Its been a while, but for that while, I haven't really focused on giving knowledge, but rather gaining it. And one such experience that I feel every seller addresses at some point or another, is a rocky transaction.
Shit Happens.
Well, let me tell you what happened, and how I handled it..... with Pictures~!!!
So,
I sold a set of Harley Heads:
and as you can see, these heads were in mint condition when they left my door in This Factory Box, that my Client Gave them to me in.
Yet, when they arrived at my Buyer's Door, heres what had happened along the way.
Now, that you have the general idea of what happened. Here are the specifics.
So with heavy items, I prefer to determine a fair shipping price for my buyers, which is based on the location that the items are traveling to. Therefore, I don't post a shipping price, but rather, once I have a zip code, I issue an invoice with the amount for shipping.
This buyer, in particular, sends payment, before I issue an invoice, based on his 'expertise' in the specific field of Harley Heads, and expects me to just take it and make packing job work around his payment. This is not how I operate, and poses an issue off the bat. There are many people like this, that read my clause "Shipping to be determined at the close of the auction based on the buyers location and preferred shipping methods" and take it as an aggressive statement, as if I were trying to gouge them on shipping costs.
I do charge a small handling fee, but I assure you, that bamboozling is not the case.
I have no intention to swindle people out of money. The reason I charge handling fees is to cover any unexpected surprises in the way of shipping costs or supplies. The fee is nominal and maxes out at $5 for some way outlandish item that takes a lot of work to pack and a lot of work to ship.
So, now I have a buyer that has paid prematurely, and an amount that doesn't even cover parcel post at the post office. He also wrote a little paypal note with the payment stating that these were extremely fragile pieces of equipment and need to be handled and packed with extreme care, specifying that they needed to be packed in the factory box or in two separate boxes, one for each head.
First off..... paypal transaction notes are easily overlooked, its best if a buyer needs to tell you something, to 1. Send a message prior to the auctions close, and 2. A the very least use ebay's messaging system, or at best an e-mail, paypal notes shouldn't be an option, because we as sellers really don't read them, we look to see payment has been made. Paypal is a financial system to us, not a messaging system.
So as crazy as this ordeal had been up to this point, I told the guy he needed to send me an extra $4 to meet parcel post at cost. He did so and I packed the buggers into the factory box, and figured, since this guy was attempting to undercut shipping by nipping it in the bud, there was no way, I could pack these things into a bigger box, with more materials, let alone 2 boxes and still make the price that he paid for the item to be shipped.
I am not going to lie, I had a feeling about this box, that these things were way to heavy for the box and of all the huge boxes that left with me for the Post Office that day, I was the most skeptical about that. However, the only thing that kept me from repackaging, although I contemplated the idea every time I looked at the box, was the shipping cost/price issue.
So I Insured them, of course, and then they were on their way. Again, to make this one even better, I went to this one guy at the post office, that always sends everything priority, and they ended up going priority for $50.... so after that I was already in the hole $16.... Upon telling the guy, he refused to pay the additional $16 that I had incurred out of pocket... then went on an angry tangent, when I was like wtf.
Then they arrived damaged, and well heres were the fun began~! Haha, this is really funny to write right now~!
So this guy was like, I will buy these broken heads off you for $25 a head plus the shipping. And he wanted a refund for the rest, something like $60. But the catch was, his shipping was still $34 despite the $50 I paid, so he was offering me something like $84, rather than the $100 it should have been, which I gladly would have taken.
Then I was like, whatever, let me just refund this guy his money and call it a day. Yet, for some reason, rather than doing that, I contacted eBay and they told me I had not misrepresented the item and I was in the clear. So I decided to dispute it.
Big Mistake. Fighting, was not necessary. If I had just refunded payment, I would have saved myself a lot of stress and the process of paypal claims. Once the claim was through, I had to refund the money anyway.
I sell all my items as is. However, this does not apply to shipping issues. The thing I really learned from this experience is:
Always pack your stuff properly. If you have a feeling about a specific package, REPACK IT~! It is well worth it.
Also, I learned that fighting someone over shipping damage, isn't worth it. Refund it. Move on.
You might as why an Insurance Claim wasn't filed..... well thats a good question, the buyer stated that postal insurance wasn't claimable based on the way it was packed. So well, I have the option to claim it, but other than standing behind the fact that it was packed in the factory box, I really have no ground.
So, again.... Rocky Transactions Happen..... the best we can do, is learn from the transaction how to be a better eBay Seller. How to better pack our merchandise, and best of all.... when its actually worth it, to file a paypal or eBay Claim.....
Until the NExt Post..... WAHOO~!
